Post Legislative Assessment of the Crossrail Act 2008
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Memorandum to the Transport Select Committee Post Legislative Assessment of the Crossrail Act 2008 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Transport, by Command of Her Majesty, July 2013 Cm 8676 £6.25 © Crown copyright 2013 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v2.0. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government- licence/version/2 or e-mail: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] This document is available from our website at www.dft.gov.uk. ISBN: 9780101867627 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 2572296 31953 07/13 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................4 Objective of the Crossrail Act 2008 ............................................................................4 Hybridity ..................................................................................................................... 4 Implementation ...........................................................................................................4 Assessment of the Crossrail Act 2008 ........................................................................5 Works.................................................................................................................5 Land ...................................................................................................................6 Planning .............................................................................................................8 Heritage............................................................................................................10 Trees................................................................................................................11 Noise................................................................................................................11 Railway Matters ................................................................................................12 Transfers ..........................................................................................................15 Nominated Undertaker .....................................................................................16 Miscellaneous ..................................................................................................16 Final .................................................................................................................21 Summary ..................................................................................................................21 Table A: Recommendation Index .............................................................................22 Introduction 1. This memorandum provides an assessment of the Crossrail Act 2008 and has been prepared by the Department for Transport for submission to the Transport Select Committee. It is published as required by the process set out in the document Post-Legislative Scrutiny – The Government’s approach (CM 7320). 2. This assessment covers the powers conferred by the Crossrail Act 2008 (the Act) that have been used so far during the construction process up until the end of June 2013. Other powers intended to allow Crossrail to function as a fully operational railway have not yet been used and as such cannot be assessed at this time and should form part of any subsequent review once the railway is operational. It should be noted that some powers contained within the Act may never be used. 3. This assessment has sought the views of individuals from the Department for Transport, Transport for London, Crossrail Limited, the Local Authorities involved in the Planning Forum process and London Underground. Objective of the Crossrail Act 2008 4. The main purpose of the Act is to secure the powers necessary to build Crossrail. Crossrail consists of new rail tunnels running west – east through central London connecting directly with existing surface rail routes to Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west and Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. This existing surface rail infrastructure is also subject to a number of improvement works being carried out by Network Rail known as the On Network Works. By connecting the main terminals of Paddington and Liverpool Street, Crossrail will enable interconnecting mainline train services to cross the centre of London via a number of new and existing, but expanded and enhanced stations. The project is expected to cost no more than £14.5bn (excluding Rolling Stock and Depot) and the full route is scheduled to be open in December 2019. Hybridity 5. It should be noted that the Bill for the Crossrail Act was treated as a Hybrid Bill during its passage through Parliament because it contained provisions which have an impact on the interests of particular individuals, as well as containing provisions of a more general public nature. A Hybrid Bill is a Public Bill promoted by the Government which affects particular private interests in a way different from the generality of people affected by the Bill. Implementation 6. The provisions in the Act came into effect on the 22nd July 2008 when the Act received Royal Assent. This allowed Crossrail Limited, a single purpose delivery body and the Nominated Undertaker on the Crossrail project, to commence the construction of the new Crossrail railway. London 4 Underground is also a Nominated Undertaker but only for the purposes of works to Bond Street station and Tottenham Court Road station. Assessment of the Crossrail Act 2008 7. This assessment has been conducted by the Department for Transport. Officials from the DfT sought the views and input from the parties listed in paragraph 3, before developing this Command paper. The Department would like to express its thanks to these groups for their help and input. The structure of this assessment follows the outline of the Crossrail Act 2008, taking each clause in turn, and where applicable the associated Schedule; stating the purpose of the legislation, and how suitable it has been during the first five years of construction of the Crossrail project. 8. Where there were differing opinions on the success of a clause the DfT has taken a view in light of the evidence presented to Officials, and where there are specific recommendations on the viability of the legislation these are made and summed up in Table A: Recommendation Index on page 22. Works 9. Section 1 – Construction and maintenance of scheduled works authorises the Nominated Undertaker to construct and maintain the works required for Crossrail and defines the area of land within which they must be completed in order to make use of the powers of the Act. Section 1 also brings into force Schedule 1 – Scheduled Works. 10. Schedule 1 details the work that Crossrail Limited can deliver under the powers of the Act in accordance with its duty to deliver the new railway infrastructure. Schedule 1 has been proven comprehensive and effective enough to allow Crossrail Limited to progress the works to date and this is evidenced by the significant construction progress that has occurred on the project so far. 11. Given the acceptance that Schedule 1 has been effective there are no specific recommendations to be made. 12. Section 2 – Works: further and supplementary provisions brings into force Schedule 2 – Works: further and supplementary provisions. Schedule 2 describes the ancillary works that Crossrail Limited is permitted to carry out in connection with those described in Schedule 1. 13. Schedule 2 describes the process for carrying out these additional works and any specific work sites that are applicable. Much like Schedule 1, Schedule 2 has proven to be fit for purpose and effective up to this point in the project, allowing the required works to be carried out successfully. 14. As Schedule 2 has been considered to be a success there is no specific recommendation to be made here. 5 15. Section 3 – Highways brings into effect Schedule 3 – Highways. Schedule 3 grants Crossrail Limited powers to permanently stop up certain highways listed in the Schedule by means of a notice to the local Highway Authority. For any other highway that is subsequently identified as needing to be stopped up Crossrail Limited have to abide by the normal process as set out by either the Highways Act 1980 or the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. 16. Schedule 3 also lists the highways which can be temporarily stopped up or diverted. As with a number of schedules in the Crossrail Act it was not possible to list every instance where powers apply and as a result additional stopping up requires formal consents from local authorities. 17. It is generally felt that the powers granted in Schedule 3 have worked well and have been fit for purpose. However a number of aspects of the process could have been improved. One such aspect is where a consultation to stop up the highway has been made under Section 3, yet consent is still often required under Schedule 17 before a work site can be established on the highway. It may have been a smoother process if Schedule 3 contained